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Casseroles in the United States or continental Europe usually consist of pieces of meat or fish, various chopped vegetables, a starchy binder such as flour, potato, pasta or rice or other grain, and, often, a crunchy or cheesy topping. The moisture needed for reheating is partially released from the meat and vegetables during the cooking process, but additional liquids can be added to the casserole ingredients in the form of gravies, of stock, of wine, of beer or vegetable juice when all the ingredients are assembled. Casseroles are usually cooked slowly in the oven, often uncovered.
Casseroles are also made as a dessert including everything from cobblers or a custard bread pudding to a Berry Clafoutis.
Ingredients that require different cooking times must be cooked sufficiently so that when they come together they will all have had just the right amount of time and won't turn to mush when reheated. Let's begin with the positive side of serving casseroles on board the aircraft Casseroles are perfect for aircraft service because by nature they are moist will not dry out as rapidly during the heating process. They will hold their heat for the time it takes for service and plating because they are dense and solid. They can be fully prepared in advance and easily placed into the aircraft oven to heat without fear of quickly overcooking. Many casseroles can be frozen into individual servings as well as bulk for easy storage in transport - especially great if you need to travel self-contained or require food to be front loaded. Because they may contain an entire meal in one container, portioning is as simple as removing it from the oven and serving. No fuss and no mess. Service is much quicker. And the presentation may actually be the visual appeal of the golden brown, crust or the gooey sauce or melted cheese bubbling up to the surface.
A 'Gratin' is simply a baked dish with a lightly browned crust of cheese, breadcrumbs, breads, biscuits, crust or en croute. Many casseroles fall into this category.
Although a Timballo is a classic dish originating from Sicily, Italy, these dishes might also fall into the gratin category because of the toppings. Stratas are so delicious !!!! . . . one of my personal favorites because of the custard like filling texture. Unfortunately, many people may not have heard them referred to as a Strata, but, have had them simply referred to as a casserole. The secret to the texture is layers of bread, bread crumbs - any kind from a rich brioche to a crusty French to a Ciabatta to good old sliced white bread. The thing that makes Stratas so amazing is the bread. Unlike quiches and frittatas, the base of the Strata is bread cubes that are layers between savory fillings and left to soak in a custardy egg mixture for a couple of hours or overnight. Again, perfect for aviation as it can be prepared ahead and cooked on board in time for serving. At Tastefully Yours, we do a French Bread Praline Pecan French Toast that is prepared and sent uncooked in individual casseroles and the third crew member can bake on board for the smell and aroma filling the cabin. A Strata is generally savory. The process of layering bread, filling and covering it with the egg mixture makes the Strata perfectly light and a lot like a savory version of bread pudding. It's nothing short of amazing.
Another category that works really well on board the aircraft are pot pies. As a casserole, they can be biscuit topped, puff pastry topped, bread topped or even potato crusted as we see in Shepherd’s Pie. A pot pie is a deep dish pie which has a creamy gravy base with meat or seafood and vegetables topped with a crust of some type. Dumplings or drop biscuits placed closely together can form the crust, but pot pies do have a crust of some type, but may not have a bottom crust.
Tastefully Yours Lobster Pot Pie has a white wine béchamel filled with chunks of lobster meat, diced potato, asparagus and wild mushrooms served it a single portion oven casserole . . . There are other foods we can loosely categorize into the casserole food group because of the preparation are:
These last few items I have mentioned must be causing you to wonder about my putting them into this category, but, I do so because of the things you need to be more cautious about when serving on board. Notice they all are stuffed, have fillings, they are heated in the oven, they can be a meal or can be any of the courses served on board. So now to the negative side of casseroles on board your aircraft
If you are alert to the foes associated with casseroles and take precautions they can be an aircrafts very best of friends. Enjoy this season's perfect comfort food.
Let me introduce myself . . . My name is Paula Kraft and I am founder and President of Tastefully Yours Catering, an aviation specific caterer, located in Atlanta, Georgia for over 35 years.
Currently I am an active member of the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee Advisory Board and the NBAA International Flight Attendant Committee, Women in Corporate Aviation, Women in Aviation International, National Association of Catering Executives, International Flight Catering Association, the International Food Service Association and the International Caterer’s Association. I have coordinated training programs and clinics for NBAA, EBAA and BA-Meetup conference attendees for over 10 years, created mentoring programs for caterers and flight attendants to broaden their aviation culinary skills, and to assist them in adapting to the unique challenges and constraints found in catering for general aviation. I recognize the need for training and have worked closely with flight departments, flight crews, schedulers and customer service reps at the FBOs to ensure that catering specific training provides information and skills necessary to reduce risk while assisting them in their job duties that include safe food handling, catering security, accurate transmission of food orders, and safe food production, packaging and delivery. I fell into aviation catering quite by accident. I was the in-house caterer and bakery supplier for Macy’s department stores in Atlanta when catering was ordered for a Macy’s customer which was soon to change my life. After the client enjoyed the catering provided, I was summoned to the client’s corporate office to provide several of the items delivered through Macy’s to the executive dining room. Within a week, I was providing food for the flight department and my first order was for the President of a foreign country (as I was too be told soon after). So, here I am, some 35 years later, still loving every minute of every day in aviation catering.
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